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Original poster

WWYD? derogatory comment from teacher

63 replies

moshmoshi · 13/12/2020 23:53

Y8 DC told me that one of the teachers made a derogatory comment towards another child who wouldn’t stop talking. It is the kind of comment that was common when I was in school in the 80s but is now rightly seen as disablist.

My DC was quite shocked at the comment as was older DC. It is possible that he misinterpreted the comment but not likely. I want to email school but as it is not my DC the comment was directed at would I be just seen as interfering?

OP posts:
TW2013 · 14/12/2020 05:49

It is in the area I live in!

I guess this is the issue, if the teacher is not local they might have no idea that it could be misinterpreted. I think that professionally I would probably want to know.

cabbageking · 14/12/2020 03:40

Are you special? Would tend to infer the child felt rules didn't apply to them.

caringcarer · 14/12/2020 01:14

Surely "are you special?" is asking a child if they think they don't have to follow the rules. If teacher had said, "do you have special needs?"I would complain but not complain for "are you special?"

housemdwaswrong · 14/12/2020 01:09

I've asked pupils if they are special, always in terms of being above the rules. I think you may be right and it's been misinterpreted as he doesn't like the teacher anyway. Special needs is also a fairly outdated term I think, whenever we discuss them in a professional forum it's usually additional needs or learning keeps, so I doubt the connotation was intentional.

I'd wait. If this was how the involved child took it, the school would rightly hear from their parents soon enough.

JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn · 14/12/2020 01:03

That doesn't mean "have you got special needs" to me - just the teacher asking them if they think they're above the rules.

AlexaShutUp · 14/12/2020 00:48

It wouldn't occur to me that "are you special" would mean anything other than "do you think you're special", i.e. do you think the rules don't apply to you. Obviously, no idea how the teacher actually meant it, but it's possible that the dc have misinterpreted.

Original poster
moshmoshi · 14/12/2020 00:41

It is in the area I live in! I am aware that his idea of mean is probably very exaggerated as well.

I would always say ‘Do you think you’re special?’ rather than ‘Are you special?’, it seems hardly different but when I grew up, and in the area I live now the second version is definitely derogatory. Hence both DC being quite shocked by the comment.

The teacher may not have meant it like that at all though and reading yours and pingwyn’s replies my DC and I may have misinterpreted her meaning. I hope so.

OP posts:
Pieceofpurplesky · 14/12/2020 00:31

I've said 'are you special' to children who think they are above the school rules - never meant in a derogatory way and has never been taken as such - strangely a lot of children wouldn't think of 'special' as a derogatory word as it is not one generally used to identify pupils with additional needs any more.

Being 'mean' in the eyes of a 12/13 year older doesn't mean the teacher calls other pupils names - it probably means she doesn't let them misbehave in her class!

Original poster
moshmoshi · 14/12/2020 00:25

I hope it was meant in that way pingwyn. Apparently teacher is quite mean so this might have influenced DC’s view of what they thought was meant.

OP posts:
PinGwyn · 14/12/2020 00:14

I wouldn't report that tbh - context is everything with that comment and you weren't there so it's hard to judge.

I'd assume (hopefully!) it was more an "are you special?" as in "do you think the rules don't apply to you" type thing.

Original poster
moshmoshi · 14/12/2020 00:07

It was ‘Are you special?’ meaning ‘Do you have special needs?’

I thought the teacher might have meant ‘You’re not special.’ As in stop showing off, you’re not special but DC adamant it was the first meaning, they said they could tell it was by the way the teacher was saying/shouting it.

OP posts:
Augustbreeze · 13/12/2020 23:59

No, yr DD witnessed the incident, not good for her either.

PinGwyn · 13/12/2020 23:58

What was the comment?

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